Monthly Archives: June 2017

Eight Whalers were joined by Thomas from Chelsea Arts Club in Battersea Park to face Cairns Fudge, who scored an early low-blow by turning up in All Blacks shirts. Both teams were expecting another team member to turn up around 3pm, so a 30-over game was agreed and the Whalers decided to have a bat.

Dean and Al headed out and saw off the first few overs with minimal fuss, despite a pitch that gave plenty of surprises. The uneven but fast outfield meant boundaries were fairly easy to come by, and both were able to take advantage of some hit-and-miss bowling. Dean was bowled uncharacteristically early by Zac for 15, bringing in Roland who quickly calmed any nerves with a trio of boundaries through the off side to keep the score ticking along. A bowling change seemed to have been navigated until Al was bowled by a loopy full toss from Andrew, leading to some silent chuntering as he headed off the field. Dennis settled in well with some elegant drives and cuts, and the Whalers were making the most of the fast outfield with plenty of gaps. Roland was well into his stride by this point, and he managed to keep Kamal (who was fielding for Cairns Fudge) on his toes with a few cuts backward of square.

Dennis eventually fell to one of several LBW appeals from the threatening Kartik for 18, but the Whalers continued their march towards what looked like a defendable total as Matt joined Roland for some powerful hitting and plenty of running. After Roland had brought up his maiden Whalers fifty with another drive down the ground, there were only a few overs remaining. Unfortunately he couldn’t see them out, as a mix up with Matt led to Roland being run out for an excellent 65. Jiff tried to take the attack to the bowlers, skipping down the wicket to his first ball. A few balls later he was given out, either bowled, stumped, or caught – to be honest no one is really sure. The scorebook says bowled, but the batsman says otherwise. Matt missed one to bring in Thomas and Jack (eventually, after he managed to get pads on only once Matt was halfway back to the boundary) who had a swipe or two and brought the Whalers to a close on 185.

After tea the Whalers headed out to bowl, knowing it would be a tiring day if batsmen got in. Jack opened the bowling and found some movement before trapping Jim LBW in the first over, and Jiff kept things tight from the other end. After the first six overs Cairns Fudge had struggled to make too many inroads and the Whalers were feeling confident. An excellent bowling change to bring on Thomas and Kamal resulted in a wicket for Kamal, but by this point Andrew was beginning to settle and Drew looked like he was keen for some runs. Some big hits from both batsmen plus several misfields from the Whalers brought their score up to the required rate, and CK from Salix (who had turned up in time to help us field) wasn’t quite able to hold onto a difficult chance and had to go off the field with his finger looking slightly worse for wear. After hitting Kamal for a six, Andrew missed a straight one and the Whalers breathed a slight sigh of relief, especially when a couple overs later Drew hit a ball straight to Jack at long on.

Another excellent bowling change brought a wicket straight away – Dennis produced a fairly rank leg-side long hop as a loosener, which was flicked by Marcos straight to Dean behind the stumps, and the Whalers sniffed a chance. Some good pressure bowling from Dennis and Thomas produced another couple of wickets – Dennis bowling their number 7 and Thomas taking no prisoners with a run out after a mix up from the batsmen. Zac and Kartik found themselves at the crease with 6 overs to go and about 60 runs needed, but some powerful and well placed hitting brought the rate down to around 8 an over – achievable with the field spread. Some tight bowling upped the required rate a bit, but some looser bowling (including an unintentional bouncer) from Jiff gave Cairns Fudge a chance, needing 16 off the last two overs. Jack bowled Zac for 33 with the first ball of the penultimate over, and a few scampered singles left Cairns Fudge needing 11 off the final over. Jiff kept things much tighter this time around, bowling their last batsman with three balls to spare, and handing the Whalers a win by 8 runs.

All round a very good, close game, with both sides having opportunities to win throughout the game. Man of the match went to Roland for his excellent maiden-Whalers fifty, Jack’s catch at long on won Champagne moment, with Matt taking muppet moment for kicking the ball over the boundary.

A combination of Fathers Day, the Champions trophy final and temperatures pushing past 30 degrees could not stop the Whalers XI making their ways to King’s House to play Isleworth Wanderers.

Winning the toss it was a grateful Whalers team taking the chance to bat, relax in the shade and let Isleworth toil in the field. Joe, dressed for the occasion in shorts due to “lending his whites to a friend for a stag do” and Dean opened up against a solid pair of opening bowlers. Dean watchful and picking up singles alongside one huge six and Joe offering a little catching practice between boundaries. For 9 overs and 41 runs all was well and multiple appeals for LB, run out and caught behind had been ignored but then Joe was given LBW (a little chuntering suggesting it may have been harsh) and Josh being yorked by a good ball first up.

In came Captain Stu to steady the ship and just needed nothing controversial to happen. Dean then pushed a ball round the corner to leg slip via the ground, cue another appeal and after an unprecedented conversation between umpires (Dan and Will) he was given out with disregard for the bump ball. Stu quickly followed giving catching practice to point and leaving us 65-4 at drinks. Isleworth continued to bowl well and It was left to Mark and Pete to push the score along past 100, Mark taking a little time to find his range, accurately placing the ball in the air between fielders before falling for a well made 20 and Pete almost walking for his own LBW for 34 (telling the umpire it was plum made the decision easier). The tail gave a little wag with Jiff, Paul and Dan hitting a few boundaries but all ending up being caught and even Kamal got to bat for average and 1 not out making the final score 151 – something to bowl at least.

During tea we saw India failing in their run chase against Pakistan and hoped this may inspire the Whalers. By this stage Joe had a new pair of trousers delivered which he decided not to wear and the bowling opened up by mixing youth and “experience” with Will and Paul. Both picked up early wickets with Dean and Stu taking catches to put Isleworth at 8-2 but this brought Sunny and Kishan to the crease and a combination of aggressive batting and good placements kept the scoreboard ticking over. Josh on the deep mid-wicket boundary was in constant action which must have had some reaction as after the drinks break we restarted a player short as he was requiring an urgent comfort break. Jiff, Kamal, Dan and Pete all tried to break the deadlock but even the tried and tested wide, wide, longhop trap was not working.

With 7 overs remaining and 6 required Will was given one last chance and as Kishan launched the ball to the long on boundary we thought that was game over and we all looking forward to a beer. However Dan had other ideas taking a stunning one handed on the run with a least one juggle and celebrating like a veteran Alan Shearer with the other arm. Whilst only prolonging the inevitable it was a great catch. Isleworth made it home with 152-3 after 29 overs.

On a bright, sunny and windy afternoon 10 Whalers assembled for our annual home match against tough opponents Cricketers. The assembling was a bit haphazard as the skipper (yours truly) was 20 minutes late with several others later still. After a confusing toss (blame the skipper for this one too) the Whalers were batting on a good looking strip.

Against some accurate bowling the Whalers made a tentative start and found themselves 37/3 after 13 overs, the game may have turned shortly after when Dean slapped a regulation catch to mid off only to be reprieved by a bad drop, after which Dean went on the attack (including one straight six into the scoreboard), and well supported firstly by Pip and then Mark D, Dean started to dominate passing first 50 and then 100, eventually finishing on an impressive 120no form a Whalers total of 186/4. Although a good recovery this seemed like a par score on a good pitch.

After tea the Whalers took to the field, Jack opened up with three full tosses… a masterstroke as it turned out as the third one was sliced high into the air, the skipper took the catch and the Whalers were away, exceptional bowling, particularly by Nick (4/13) and fielding soon had the Cricketers at 18/5 and the Whalers change bowlers (Kamal/Andrew) continued to turn the screws. Perfect catching for the day and a rare Whalers stumping soon had the Opposition all out for 78, all the bowlers taking wickets well supported by a top fielding effort.

It was noted by some that it was nice that some Aussies had cricketing success on the same day as England were knocking Australia out of the Champions trophy….

All in all an excellent win over tough opposition who were gracious in defeat.